Pond Water Clarity

12/04/2017

A
common complaint from pond owners is the clarity of their water. This is a huge question because there are so
many different variables that can affect the clarity of your pond water. In today’s blog, we are discussing one possibility,
soil type.

There
are three basic soil types; namely, sand, silt and clay. Soil can be made up of one of these or a
mixture of all three. Most soil is made
up of a combination of these soil types.
Sand is the largest particle and water will flow through it easily. Silt is a small enough particle to slow water
flow, but will not hold water long term.
Clay is sticky and creates a leak proof barrier that will completely
retain water.

After
a quick tutorial on soil types, one would immediately think clay is the best
soil type for a pond and we would agree, however, clay is also the soil type
that will cause your pond to remain murky.
Clay lined ponds are often the ponds that have the biggest issues with
pond water clarity. The images below
were taken from a lawn and garden website: sprinklerwarehouse.com. Although their test was for a completely
different reason the images accurately represent what pond water clarity will
look like based on soil type.

While
pond owners with heavy sand and silt content might enjoy beautifully clear
water with little effort they also struggle with heavy outflow, leaks, and inconsistent
water levels. If you have a pond and it
has always been murky, the primary soil type is most likely clay, which is
great for the overall structure, but is more difficult to turn into a crystal-clear
body of water.

“Dear Glenda, I want to thank you again for the help you gave me after our telephone call about my pond fountain. The information you sent solved my problem. I have been most pleased with this unit since it was installed in my one acre pond last winter. I was having trouble with the water oxygen content and had a fish kill before getting your unit. No problems since and it's lovely to look at.Thank you again for your excellent service."